Report: Uncle contacted DCF days before Fitchburg boy's disappearance

Tuesday

Dec 31, 2013 at 6:44 PM

By Paula J. Owen TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

FITCHBURG — Luis Sierra, the brother of Alberto L. Sierra Jr., who is being held without bail in connection with the disappearance of young Jeremiah Oliver, contacted the Department of Children and Families in December, 10 days before the boy was reported missing to authorities, over concerns about the mental health of Jeremiah's mother, according to a report released Monday by DCF.

Additionally, the report says Jeremiah's siblings told the family's DCF social worker that Luis Sierra used to baby-sit Jeremiah and that the boy had gone to live with his "other family" whom they did not know.

DCF Commissioner Olga I. Roche on Monday announced a third DCF employee was fired in the wake of investigations into the missing 5-year-old Fitchburg boy and state officials have concluded that numerous failings and misconduct by staff contributed to the disappearance.

Ms. Roche issued the agency's final report on the case of the missing boy, whose disappearance is being treated as a possible homicide.

The details, which she called troubling and sad, were disclosed as Jeremiah's mother, Elsa Oliver, 28, and her boyfriend, Alberto Sierra, 23, remain in custody facing abuse charges, and family members and friends continue searching for the boy. The state is also caring for the boy's 9-year-old brother and 7-year-old sister.

Ms. Oliver is being held without bail on a contempt charge in juvenile court, where she was ordered to produce her son and she also faces child abuse charges. Family members say she has a history of mental illness dating back to when she was 17.

Jeremiah's father, Jose Oliver, from New Britain, Conn., is due back in Fitchburg Juvenile Court on Jan. 10 to seek custody of Jeremiah's older siblings.

According to the DCF report, a social worker from the DCF's North Central office in Leominster failed to conduct home visits regularly to ensure the Oliver children's safety. The social worker only visited the Oliver family three times in 2013 after the case was transferred to the Leominster office in January — twice in February and once in April, the report states. The social worker's supervisor did not take steps to ensure home visits were made, the report says.

Additionally, when the case was first transferred to the Leominster office, the social worker admitted she did not take the time to read the Oliver family's DCF file dating back to September 2011, and only read the transfer summary. Her supervisor didn't read the file, either, but did look at some of the reports contained in it, the report said. Moreover, DCF records were falsified to say the Oliver home was "clean and suitable," in September, though no one had seen it, the report said.

The last time a DCF employee saw Jeremiah, the report says, was on May 20 after another report of physical abuse by Ms. Oliver toward the oldest child was made. An investigator visited the Oliver home and said he spoke at length with Jeremiah, later describing the boy in his report as "precocious, talkative and articulate."

The social worker later canceled a home visit scheduled with Ms. Oliver and her children on May 28, the report says, and failed to follow up on three more reports of abuse and neglect of the Oliver children made in June; a report by Jeremiah's preschool that he was coming to school hungry and another report from the preschool that Ms. Oliver said she was considering moving to Florida.

The next contact the social worker had with Ms. Oliver was on June 26, when Ms. Oliver called her and said she did not want to work with the DCF any longer because she was "not receiving any services or help from the Department," the report said.

But, it wasn't until more than four months later that the social worker assigned to the Oliver family would have contact with the family again, finally visiting Reingold Elementary School on Nov. 5 where Jeremiah's older siblings attended school.

The social worker spoke to the guidance counselor and others at the school, the report said, and also interviewed Jeremiah's sister and brother.

"The oldest child reported that his youngest sibling resided with their 'other family' that he did not know," the report said. "The middle child reported that the brother of her mother's boyfriend sometimes watched her younger sibling."

The school visit was conducted about a month after the social worker called Jeremiah's preschool on Oct. 9 and was told that he had not attended the program since June 26, the report said.

After leaving Jeremiah's siblings' school on Nov. 5, the social worker finally made an attempt to make an announced home visit to the Oliver home, the report said, but only left her business card in the door when no one answered the door. The social worker did not try again in November to visit the Oliver home even after the guidance counselor from the older children's school called to notify her on Nov. 15, he was unable to get in touch with Ms. Oliver.

Then, on Dec. 2, a mandated reporter filed a 51A report for neglect of the Oliver children by their mother. The social worker and her supervisor finally went back to the Oliver home the day the report was filed, but, again, no one answered the door, the report said.

That same night just before 9, Ms. Oliver left an incoherent voicemail message for the social worker, the report said. The next day, the social worker called Ms. Oliver back and left her a voice-mail message and later that day, Luis Sierra called the social worker to alert the agency of his concerns about Ms. Oliver's depression.

"The social worker asked Luis to have Mrs. Oliver contact the department immediately," the report said.

Two days later, an investigator tried to conduct a home visit and though that investigator heard voices inside the Oliver home, no one answered the door and the investigator left, the report said. The same thing happened the following day. On Dec. 7, emergency workers with DCF visited the home and also heard voices inside, but couldn't get anyone to come to the door. Finally, on Dec. 9, the DCF social worker left a voicemail for Ms. Oliver stating if she did not contact DCF by 5 p.m., legal action would be taken. She did not respond and the agency took custody of the three Oliver children on Dec. 10.

"On Dec. 13, the investigator spoke with the maternal grandmother and maternal aunt at their respective home in Florida and they denied that the youngest child was in Florida," the report said. "The local sheriff's office in Florida sent an officer to the maternal grandmother's home and confirmed that the youngest child was not there."

Ms. Oliver and Mr. Sierra were subsequently arrested.

On Dec. 17, Mr. Sierra's brother Luis Sierra posted on his Facebook page, "Hbd (Happy Birthday) lil bro. I'm gonna do everything I can to get to the bottom of this."

Then, in response to posts of support from his friends, Luis Sierra posted, "Thanks and everything they said on the news is a lie. My brother didn't know what was going on. She told him she sent the boy to her fam's in Florida and he never once laid a hand on them kids. That was all her. She was an abusive and a neglecting mother and I will fight to the end to prove my brother's innocence."

Contact Paula Owen at powen@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaOwenTG.